I understand Absolute zero is the coldest it can be, does anyone know if there are any limits to how hot it can be? I heard that during the big bang temperatures reached into the millions of degrees, but is there a max it can be?
2007-05-17 00:39:04 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
YES.
Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of individual particles, usually atoms or molecules. That is to say, it is a measure of the average velocity of these particles. And as we all know, there is a limit to velocity, that being the speed of light.
If you start with a gas like hydrogen (H2) and increase the temperature enough, the covalent bonds will break down and you will have a hot gas of atomic hydrogen (H). Keep increasing the temperature and the hydrogen will ionize into protons and electrons. Keep increasing the temperature and eventually the protons will break down into their constituent quarks. This is essentially what happens inside the target of a particle accelerator.
At energy levels this high, it is less useful to speak about the “temperature” of a particle and more useful to speak about its energy, which is fundamentally related to its mass by Einstein’s equation E=mc². Because c, the speed of light, is fixed by nature, it is apparent that the maximum energy (hence maximum temperature) is limited by a particle’s mass.
Currently, the most massive elementary particle known is the top quark, which has a mass of about 170,900 MeV/c². If a top quark were travelling at the speed of light, it would have a kinetic energy of 170900 MeV, which is equivalent to 1,983,209,905 K. It can reasonably be inferred that nothing can be hotter than that.
2007-05-17 04:57:23 · answer #1 · answered by Keith P 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Absolute zero is a complete lack of energy. Its opposite would be energy itself. In terms of temperature though, there may be things with more energy that may not be "hot". Was the Big Bang hot? That was a whole lot of energy in a very small space. A sun is hot but we can do better in a lab by far.
Shortest frequency energy/ radiation?
2007-05-17 01:39:22 · answer #2 · answered by mike453683 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Funny how absolutes work, isn't it? There may well be a maximum, but we would have to work out the mass/energy of the universe to find it out, and then see how much the temperature would rise if it were all converted to heat energy. This may not give the absolute maximum, but it would give the highest the temperature could reach in our universe.
2007-05-17 01:00:50 · answer #3 · answered by Labsci 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, there is no absolute maximum. Various things can survive to millions and millions of degrees. But it's a good question to ask.
2007-05-17 00:47:20 · answer #4 · answered by Zach 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The shorter the wavelength of radiation the more energetic (hotter if you like) it becomes. The minimum possible wavelength would be the Planck length so that would define the maximum energy for radiation.
2007-05-17 07:58:37 · answer #5 · answered by black sheep 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No and it's funny because you could have called absolute zero the maximim and the maximum absolute zero and it would make no difference. You can't reach either one.
2007-05-17 00:46:23 · answer #6 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think the absolute maximum is the temerature at which a substance goes into plasma state. the plasma cannot remain the properties of the original element.. so i think that is the absolute maximum
2007-05-17 00:46:22 · answer #7 · answered by Vipul C 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no
2007-05-17 00:50:38 · answer #8 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋